Shadow and Sunlight
by NegativeSpaces
Summary: She had no name, and yet it was on the lips of all men. She had the power to Create, but yearned to Destroy. Through her rage, she learned of love in the form of a blonde that yanked her off her pedestal and taught her the power of humanity. Brittana.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This was spurred on by the thought that they had that kind of epic love that defies life and death and time. A twoshot, other part is mostly written and will be uploaded later in the week.

.:-:.

There are those that believe the universe begun with a singular God. He willed the Earth into existence and the cosmos bowed to his call, bent under his seeking fingers and murmured their approval when he plucked the distant stars from the endless reaches of space to smash them together in a violent reaction that would eventually become their home. It has been turned over and over in what you call time, prodded and accepted and rebelled against, repulsed by the very idea that one could make so much but lack the ability to take it all away.

When the universe was still a nubile thing, fragile and weak, there were no rules that bound whatever roamed the celestial planes. Reality and Time have no meaning when you were born from the womb of existence, your first wretched breath the frozen reaches of a void that had no means of being filled. There was only chaos and anger and atrophy, burning with Light that had yet to be created illuminating the corners of the universe that were still being formed. Perhaps it was the anger of those who were denied the things that had not been given coherent thought - taste, touch, sound - or the reaching vastness as it continued to create new lightyears from nothingness, but through the flux of ataxia that shaped the ether there was a ripple in the fabric of space; a stutter in their world, and the soundless beings learned to Create.

But they knew not the laws that would soon bind them, and allowed their excitement to overpower their caution.

And from them, she bloomed.

She was not the creator of matter but the result, the first thing blessed with shape amongst the endless phantoms that flickered in and out of a concept you would later dub Reality. There was no first inhale of the deepest reaches because she _was_ part of it, part of the cold and the vastness. Before she had been nothing more than the ones who learned to Create, endlessly wandering the silent skies with a burning hunger. Her form was given a void of deeper dark that would hide the stars in her embrace once they had been birthed, but her hunger matched her size. It seared through her and left nothing good in her thoughts, tidal waves of noise that battered the shores of the nether. From when she first wrenched open her mind upon completion, the heavy mist that was her corporeality rolled angrily around her shadowed heart, yearning, wanting for something she couldn't fathom. Her tendrils lashed out through the galaxies, seeking anything to satisfy her craving and relieve her of this ache that defined all that she intended to be. For endless years she devoured the other beings that roamed, powerless to stop her because She was the One who possessed form above them. They were nothing in her horrifying glory.

But the Creators learned upon watching her directionless hatred smother the universe. She was unchallenged, invincible. Though they cowered in the face of her power, they raised their hands once more for another motion to be weaved into the very fabric of what they had deemed to call Time so that their voices be heard until their own home be turned to dust.

They touched the eye of her frozen void and created something different; pure and bright and capable of pushing back at her fury. From where She had hatred, they gave It kindness. Though She had anger, they taught It forgiveness. Through Her greed, It knew sacrifice. Her soul itself was forged of Darkness, so this beautiful being was born of Light. They impressed this truth upon the threads of the galaxy and called it Balance, known to every creature of matter or nihility. She coiled back in disgust at this burning glow that erased the shadows and gave form to the suns, specks of smaller warmth to illuminate the sightless ends of the cosmos. In forming something capable of being held and used, Darkness now had purpose and a way to satiate her hunger - for eons she yearned to devour the Light and taint it into something abhorrent and unworthy of the glow that insulted the basis of her being and replace it with her shadow that could swallow the stars. Yet the heat of the suns repulsed her and stopped her from shrouding them in her eternal embrace, and as equals she could not stand against It without destruction of them both.

But Darkness was clever and had watched the Creators do their work. She slunk about the edges of space and observed, saw their hands that had no matter caress the volatile gas and shape it into what they had desired. Offering a portion of the universe in return, the curl of her gloom touched the matter like she had seen them do and begun to spin a ball from nothingness. This ball grew and grew until she could nestle it comfortably in herself, warmed by the Light of the sun but not so blinding as though it would sear her. There had been murmurings of a new concept, a strange thing called Life; it would create beings that would operate of their own will, bending not to Darkness nor to Light. She ached to Create these fragile things, to observe and devour their Life and create Death for they were not immortal like her.

So it went until the gas slowed and hardened under her touch, becoming palpable. Her shout of triumph echoed across the reaches and attracted the attention of the Creators and of the Light; together they raced through the budding stars to her domain and marvelled at the strange patched planet.

"Is this Life?" they whispered amongst themselves, but had no language - their excitement was felt in feelings and movement, pulsating along the ether and washing over all in its wake. But Darkness had no capacity to feel, and simply watched the flicker of the galaxies hidden inside their not-flesh. Beside them Light shimmered, swirling around the nubile planet with tender care and watching the first plants bloom from nothingness.

"You have surprised us, Darkness," said the beings. "to Create, though your nature is to Destroy." But they looked over the roiling seas carefully, touching and shaping. "These beings, however remarkable, have no thought. They are useless to you."

They saw her intent, the hunger and hatred cultivated from the beginnings of her existence. But a beginning would imply a start, something that was there before. There was no before. She, as they, had always Been.

"You are unable to create the complexity you wish from your touch alone. That is not your gift to give. For everything must have a Balance; if they do not, they will crumble before they have even begun." The Creators knew of her methods but held no place to judge, for they were of equal shadow and sunlight. Darkness shrieked at the thought of letting Light touch _her_ creations, but the yearning grew too strong to deny. Long had her form grown weary of the flickers from dying suns and the ethereal beings that were unfortunate enough to cross her path. She longed for something real, something she could touch and warp until it was but a disgusting mockery of the purity she had grown to loathe.

"Your greed knows no bounds, Darkness. But the Light was made to _share_." And It descended upon the planet, soaking Itself into the rich earth. From its blessing burst forth strange things, lumbering on stocky limbs and calling to each other across the winds. She could see their Light, sickly but true, shining forth from the minds that would soon be granted Thought. It was unlike anything she had dreamed upon the eons of wakefulness and her form writhed in ecstasy as she was granted her first touch of their Light, sweet and innocent that filled the chasm within herself. Her twisted fervour almost split the cosmos apart as it filled with the presence of her newly witnessed hunger, but the Creators were not about to let themselves make the same mistake again. "These creatures have Light, but lack your Darkness. There must be Balance in all things, even you know of this."

And so she stroked their minds, giving them rage and the desire to kill. Such simple things did not understand the meaning of hatred, but anger was enough. Their complexity echoed across the vast reaches of space until the planet was known to all. Knowing their work was over, the Creators retreated back into the infinite plane to observe and learn with parting words.

"It shall be known as Earth, and will be the first of many things. One of you will eventually overcome the other and it shall be the end of Us, for when one survives without the other there will be no Balance and only Destruction. What cannot be destroyed will be reborn, and we will exist in the reaches of oblivion forevermore."

Heedless to their warnings she searched, tendrils snaking into the beings of animals in an effort to devour their glow and replace it with shadow. Their anger was simple but primal and fuelled her all encompassing appetite, sucking all Light from where she appeared into their fleshy bodies. During the night she crawled freely upon the earthly planes and She reigned until the moon descended and the sun took its place. For she was the void of a moonless night, as deep as the emptiness that held her shifting mass. Nothing could escape her blanket, hands that weren't hands touching upon the minds of beasts to warp them for her amusement. For countless eons she roamed, unused to your fragile concept of time. Things that appeared to her one moment disappeared the next, brittle bones decaying in the ground that had flourished absent of her consuming shadow. There was not a fracture in time that didn't play back in her memory, for She was eternal. There was no birth just as there was no death.

She simply Was.

But millenia passed, and she grew tired of beasts and their predictable methods. Only so long could she float through the endless nether and feed from their rage and sorrow, once welcome emptiness inside her beginning to stretch outwards into an ache unknown to One who had previously only known darkness. She retreated to her endless home, the astral planes that resided upon the very edge of the flux to reflect on what she would eventually describe as loneliness.

In her absence, great flames rose and Light reigned, empowered by the shadows that shrunk without their mistress. The animals grew and prospered and trampled upon their home, bruising but not breaking it. So loud were their footsteps that it travelled to her across the cosmos and her form swelled with an indescribable fury upon watching the beasts mate and live and love.

And she knew jealousy. It tore apart the universe; gas rushed together to escape her wrath and created planets. Her scream rippled through the fabric of her world and knocked a meteor from its orbit, hurtling down to wipe the animals from the surface. So great was their pain that it drowned her, filled her vast form to bursting. For the first time in her endless existence she understood satisfaction, craved the feeling it gave. Engorged on their suffering to temporarily forget her loneliness, Darkness wrapped her cooling embrace around the tortured planet and held it against what would eventually become her breast, soothing the pain and letting the corpses decay for new life to form.

But this time her fingers dipped in the flow of Time to alter the currents, touching upon their genetic form to shape them differently from the beasts they used to be. She imagined them as small and smooth, with voices like thunder and intricate minds. To ensure her entertainment she left them with the seeds of entropy in their hearts that would grow and fester the faster they developed, hurtling themselves towards their own undoing. Once more she retreated to her timeless home and watched the fur fade from their skin and their eyes take the gleam of intelligence. Even then she could feel the hate in their hearts, selfish beings of nature who sought to hurt as much as to heal.

She introduced herself gradually, speaking to select few and swallowing their hope to feed the anger. They whispered of her prowess and some even worshipped her opposite the Sun, eternal and unending. Through Time and Space she searched, tendrils snaking into the bodies of men to devour their Light. Her greed for their souls was only triumphed by her lust for their hearts and She was known without name for as long as life has existed, thriving in the dank corners of depravity without form or substance. For hundreds of years her gluttony grew alongside their corruption until she rarely had to interfere, floating through the ether on a tide of sinful indulgence that would make even the most abhorrent man cringe back in fear.

But she craved to smother the Light, to abolish it and watch it twist into something vile.

There was one that called to her, drew her gaze from the far reaches of the stars. It took her mere moments to descend upon the sound, pure and clear and unlike anything she had ever known. Darkness watched for the source and found it in the form of a human - _girl_, her mind supplied - walking along a rough path. Her hair was of spun gold and reminded Her of the countless suns she had seen, watched the Light travel along her shifting self without touch and admired the way plasma swirled angrily from the surface. And there - the voice again, soft and haunting.

And she ran off of nothing but feeling alone (amusing, considering she felt nothing but dark) when she descended further, touching the soft earth for the first time and coaxing her ethereal shape into palpable form. Darkness built her bones and snapped the spine together, threading muscles onto the structure until nubile skin blossomed a deep caramel to cover the inner workings. Fingers stretched out and nails grew at the tips, hardening into claws. Sticky tendrils clung at her new body and thinned to form waves of midnight hair, deep and rich which flowed down to the shoulderblades that looked akin to a baby bird finding its wings. Darkness took her first breath of this world she had created, air damp and thick with what she would soon come to know as rain.

Still the voice followed her, closer now as she touched the ground as equals. Her steps were shaky but she surged onwards, feeling the cosmos for the first time overhead and so distant. For a moment she stood by the edges of the trees, bark rough along her palm. The girl was unlike anything she had ever seen - Darkness was sure she was not of her creation for what she created possessed flaws, exploitable and weak, but this being was without. Her soul simply _radiated_Light; it shone from her soul and seeped out from her pores. If She wasn't sure She had left the cosmos from above she'd swear she could see the celestial planes hidden within her gaze, burning away the gloom that bent but never touched her porcelain skin. The revulsion of finding something so pure never came in the strength She expected, no; she approached instead with eyes of burning pitch filled to the brim with a curiosity that needed to be quelled.

Light looked over when a twig snapped under her newly found weight and her jaw parted when the figure seemingly melted out of the shadows, swaying mass not wanting to part from her gleaming skin. Darkness watched her brow furrow as she drank her in; the deeper dark of her gaze and how the moonlight hit her scalp to make it burn.

"Why aren't you wearing clothes?" The first notes of her voice washed over ser in a wave, and she found that if Light would never stop speaking, she would be content.

"I didn't want to." Rough and unsure, the vocal chords speak for the first time and her sound is of sweet smoke, wrapping Light in an embrace that feels wrong and right at once. There is something about this girl with eyes of midnight that warns her at the same time it soothes; if she looks close enough she swears there is a halo of shadow vibrating from her skin, demanding and hungry in a way that sends a shiver of apprehension down her back. She isn't one to question the manners of others, so she simply shrugs and smiles in a way that has nubile eyes blinking in alarm. "Aren't you cold? It's dark out."

Feeling was a foreign concept and it took several moments for her to focus on her different limbs, testing the way each one shuddered and went numb when exposed to the air. _How feeble their bodies are, _she mused absently, taking a few staggering steps towards the girl with golden hair. Abruptly she halts almost as if encountering a wall, feeling the abyss in her chest shriek at the proximity of the thing she had sought for eons to destroy.

But all life must have death, just as all Light must have Darkness. There must be eternal balance lest the universe crumble, and it halted even her from moving any closer. They were opposites, unable to exist in the same space at once. It filled her with a great sadness that chilled the tips of her fingers, curving up the unfamiliar shell of her ear and into the pout of her lips. All she craved was a taste; if the agony of a million beasts with a shred of Light in their heart drowned her, there was no scale to comprehend the results if she was to taint the purity laid out before her. She shuddered and reached out, intent on planting her atrophy and scraping away the shroud of Light that hung in a hazy cloud around the fragile, flesh and bone vessel.

"What's your name?" Arm outstretched, Darkness blinked and thought. Did she have a name? There were many given to her over the ages that stretched out under Her rule, but none taken for her own.

Under the enquiring stare, she altered the one given to her under the guise of hatred, though the stories were simply that - childish tales given by men too afraid of their own hearts to face the truth. "Santana." It rolled off her tongue like flowing water, and Light smiled blindingly bright into the shadow.

"I'm Brittany!" she exclaimed happily, bouncing slightly in place in order to contain the endless enthusiasm Santana knew was corralled inside the heart without faults.

"Brittany," Darkness repeated, and frowned at the curl of something unknown at the hollow of her throat. Light advanced and Darkness forgot to back away until they were mere feet from each other, Brittany raising her long arm to the still outstretched one hovering almost in greeting. Santana stood rigid as stone - the shadows writhed and black holes bloomed in her discomfort. Darkness used to ignore the laws of physics, but this magnetism gave her little choice.

They gravitated closer upon instinct; the world held its breath until Santana could feel the heat from Brittany's skin warming her own, chilled from exposure. She had never truly felt the flame, for her infinite void was as cold as the death she so yearned. The closeness - she would object that it was merely the temperature - sent ripples up her flawless skin.

"You're so cold," Light murmured. "I can feel it without touching you. Like ice."

"I have never felt the touch of the sun."

She looked puzzled then - how could one live without feeling the embrace of the day? She summoned the words to ask but the moon chose that moment to break from the clouds, basking its glow upon the form of her mistress. Santana seemed ethereal once more, not of the Earth but certainly not of the shadow she had become. Darkness saw Brittany's jaw slacken and her guard lower, exposing the thing she wanted from within the fragile shell.

Everything happened at once - the frenzied pounding of her infantile heart, the expansion of her sculpted ribs. The spirals of their fingers lined up before jerking away, wrenched by a force unknown. Santana stepped back with an anguished cry and the strands of shadow wrapped her in a smothering embrace, pulling her back into the void and away from the crystal clear eyes. Long after she had vanished, Brittany remained rooted to the spot.

The stars regained their light.

.:-:.

Weeks passed. Darkness remained silent, turning the feeling of mortality (it was simply a mirage. Her flesh was as timeless as her soul, if one was even in her possession) over and over in Her mind. She did not retreat to her home lest she let Time pass by and the one that held Light in her heart die along with the other mortals. They were pawns to Her but she listened now, saw how conversations did not have to span eons. At times she would rest and feel the invisible brush of wind touch her endless body, or the scrape of earth fall upon her tendrils.

(Light looked for her every night, but she never answered.)

And what concern was it if she was hopelessly curious about this one human? It is not like She wasn't allowed to have playthings, puppets to use until she grew tired of their fragile lives and threw them away.

Her frustration bloated the sun, drew the licking flames closer to its charge. Though fall was approaching the heat was intense, sending the predictable beings into a spiral of panic. There was not even a smirk from their chaos as they scrambled and collided to justify the shift in Reality, so occupied was She with her inner turmoil. Aching with an unknown force she moved once again, skimming across the seas until she was far from Brittany, but still so close. There was a man whose rage drew her, a churning ocean covering a deep well of sadness. He was old to himself but still but a child to Her, a flicker within the flux of her thoughts. Once he held Light within himself but Time and countless injustices had warped it into something that slid along her skin and teased her tongue.

The second time she materialized in history there was no effort to hide her inner self. Eyes black as onyx glimmered with starglow as the shadows gathered to give her form, scraping and shaping until she was solid and there. There was a halo of malevolence that betrayed her to others, twisting the curl of her lips into something perverse. She heard his gasp of fear but barely registered the sound - this place lacked the sheer immensity of feeling that had been witnessed when she first opened her eyes to the most beautiful thing the universe had to offer.

It lacked _her_.

Darkness grit her teeth and turned instead to the pitiful being, cowering from where he sat upon the dock. From the depths of the lake She could see her own reflection, hovering but never touching the glassy surface.

"I felt your sorrow from the nether," murmured Santana and her voice was like velvet, rough and deep enough to drown him. Around her the tendrils swelled and writhed. He had not yet found his tongue. "as vast as the oceans of stars I have travelled. Tell me, mortal. Tell me of your pain."

And when he spoke she drank it in, let the fading Light from his eyes quell whatever unease had been binding her for these endless weeks. He felt silent and she realized her skin was crawling, rippling outwards from her chest in an effort to expand and devour her nemesis. She smiled and it was of a predator striking the killing blow; sharp and sudden. "Come to me. Let my embrace fill you, so that you may exact vengeance on those who have wronged you."

But the old man was smart, and did not trust the beautiful girl that touched nothing but air.

"What would I have to give you in return?"

"When your body returns to the Earth, I would have your soul for an eternity to reap the seeds I have sown when your kind first stepped foot upon the land." He thought of his daughter and his wife, slumbering now amongst the suns without his hands to support them. A lifetime of wishing and wanting, in return for another existence within the palms of the being whose eyes appeared endless.

He stood then with her, opening his arms and in consequence his heart.

Santana went to him, wrapped her icy limbs around his frame. He moaned and shuddered violently, watching as the manifestation of her dominion wrapped themselves around his skin in a pulsating shield. A great pain shot through his chest and he screamed, feeling the reaction shudder through the tendrils that almost shivered in glee with his anguish. Blood dripped from where one had punched a hole through his breast and words rolled off her tongue into his head; horrible, hissing things in languages he could not even begin to comprehend. The weight of her age pressed down all around him, smothering and slick.

The great length of the thing inside him melted into his veins, set his mind on fire. There was a glorious moment where he saw nothing but stars.

"You are now mine, mortal," she said, watching his form twitch and shudder as the consuming tide smoothed his wrinkled skin and stilled the ache of his bones. "bound in blood and tainted heart. I have given you the means to an end, and in returned extinguished the Light."

And indeed he felt it, felt the hatred swell until he was filled to bursting. A great loss travelled in its wake and Santana stretched her fingers to allow the feeling to surround her, basking in its enormity. Once again the stars dimmed but this time it was her satisfaction that returned their luster, the last of his goodness being swallowed where it would rot in the void that lingered in her chest. She smiled and made to leave, but an uneasy twitch in her temple made her hesitate.

_Come to me._

Simply a whisper in her mind, a breath that spun through the universe before being returned to her. She inhaled sharply and her concentration wavered, toes touching the still water where it splashed outwards in gentle waves. The surface of her reflection shattered and among the broken shards there was but a glimpse of her true form; the man recoiled in horror at the cloud of blackness that consumed all around it. Santana turned to him but before a word could come from her mouth, again the whisper sounded but with more urgency laced within the loops of the letters.

_Please!_

"I am not a dog that would heed to your call!" she roared, eyes flashing and fists clenching. Tension showed itself along the curve of her celestial collarbone, each muscle in the delicate slope of her jaw coiling with discomfort.

He staggered back as the flesh of her back opened to expose a shifting mass of vile grime, roping itself into thick coils where tendons should be. There was a flash of a sickly white spine showing itself under the quivering bulk shuddering in anticipation at the conflicting emotions (what a strange concept for one that sought to devour) before it was covered again, melting into the cavern of her chest. "Leave me! You hold no thought nor feeling over my ideals!" Her voice gathered momentum until it was hurtling across the ground, waking those who slumbered to a vague terror that held no more form than the nightmares that would plague them.

There was silence and the collective world held its breath.

_I beg of you, it hurts!_

Something exploded inside the cover of her sternum, slick and icy to the touch. Darkness had known it many times over but never in herself, disliking the way it sunk down to her very essence and lingered.

There was a burst of cold before Santana lunged into the waiting grip of the nearest shadow and disappeared as silently as she had arrived.

She chased the urge through the threads of Time, stepping from one Reality to the next in her effort to find her. Shadows gave and she saw the world through the eyes of a mortal, countless places and nameless faces but it was never _right._ The urgency she could feel was pacing her thoughts into a frenzy and the whips around her grew agitated, drawing across her flesh and leaving trails of scarlet in their wake. Is this what it feels to be human? Seeking but never found?

When she emerged the first thing which drew her eyes was the radiant blossom that painted the galaxies behind her gaze, murmuring of the Light's presence. Her voice still clung to her mind even as she was there in front of her, capable to be touched though the altered laws of magnetism still bound them together and drew them apart. But her distress was not quelled upon stepping into the correct plane for her mind didn't know how to tame the squall, throwing her once linear purpose off balance and scattering her thoughts to the astral wind.

Brittany's eyes met hers from where she was pinned under an unknown figure, pleading. His hand snaked roughly into her shirt and Santana's nose was filled with the nauseously musky scent of his arousal, overpowering the pure aroma she had come to link with the other girl.

_Help me!_ came again and Santana allowed herself to be led, form swelling with a rage cultivated over the centuries. Her mind wandered back and pulled upon the unrest of the dead, filling herself with their eternal discontent and feeding the void that hungered still. Before the eyes of Light her form twisted and mutated, shadows creating new musculature for her to inhabit with utmost care. Darkness broke her bones and replaced them all, expanding her muscles to cover them with a slick pelt of midnight. Tales of old whispered as nothing but myths laid the plans for her new body, of hushed murmurings that held stories of things that were half man, half bull. As she grew so did her anger, until she could devour the world if her whim wished it so.

The whistle of her breath rushing from a huge muzzle caught the attention of the large human, and his head swung angrily to meet the intruder. His paws, big but still so small withdrew from Brittany's chest and formed tight fists by his sides.

"Can't a guy have some privacy..." His voice trailed into nothingness and he craned his neck to take in her glory, hooves stomping angrily upon the cracked cement. A pair of pearly horns glistened atop the massive head of an ancient bull, paired with eyes set deep inside the thick reaches of the skull. He was caught in their gaze and he had flashes of a place bereft of warmth or kindness, sweeping into his soul and biting at his bones. His steps were shaky as he tried to peddle back, but the enormous bulk eclipsed the moon and robbed him of sight. The boy tripped and fell, scrambling back even as fingers of steel reached for him. It was as if the minotaur absorbed the Light; silver fine glow bending to her so that it would disappear inside her flesh and swirl helplessly, trapped.

_Don't kill him, Santana._ The bull snorted in agitation and pawed at the earth, flat chest rippling with power. Her pelt held the galaxies inside, countless constellations of her timeless plane trapped within the coarse fur. "He has tried to take something that will never belong to him,"

(It belongs to me, whispered her mind. _She_ belongs to me.)

It rumbled across the blanket of reality so that others in the distant past and approaching future could hear her judgement, vicious and unforgiving as the God they so worshipped. "and I will enjoy taking his Light as payment." His fear ran cold down her throat and gave her momentum, massive bulk cracking the earth and leaving shallow, weeping wounds in her wake. She tore through his weak body as easily as she touched upon their minds, horn sliding through his abdomen until she raised her head and yanked him along with it. The scream that was pulled from his throat was drowned half way by a bloodied gurgle, his very essence running down and staining the ivory a beautiful crimson. Darkness grunted and flung him carelessly, body hitting the ground and rolling several feet away. Upon separation, a breath of something wispy puffed from his mouth as a final exhale, the feeble shine temporarily lighting the night as it slithered around her fingers and sunk into her skin.

His Light was tainted and flawed, but she hoarded it greedily regardless.

Brittany slowly walked to the hulking form absent of fear wishing to touch the rough pelt, to trace the universe that resided inside and feel the heat of each star caress her fingertips. Now that Light was free of danger her form shuddered again, shrinking and condensing until she appeared to her in the same manner that they had first met. Again she tried to lean into her, hungry and tired and so very _empty_, but the gods conspired against her and kept them apart.

"You came," was the awed murmur. Santana had never met one that was not fearful of what she could become and simply nodded her response. "Why?"

She found that human words - feeble, crude - had no explanation for her actions. They have tried time and time again to shape what they desire into the thing that rests patiently inside their hearts, but have never managed to perfect their toil. So instead she turned to Brittany and raised her right hand, fingers curving into claws and raking at the sky. Her nails tore apart the fabric of the universe and in the destruction rose an explosion of stars, scintillating impossibly bright. Her counterpart gasped and Darkness lifted her other arm, stretching the chasm and cupping her palms almost as if to dip her fingers within the ether and drink from its radiance. Instead she strained until Brittany saw the glory of what she called her home, so blinding they almost had to look away. Her hatred for Light was overpowered by the awe pulsing from her companion and impressed upon herself; mesmerized, unused to seeing its brilliance from brand new eyes. She ripped away the last of the clouds and laid bare the endless space that was no longer empty, filled to bursting with countless suns giving Life to other systems.

"I have travelled for times that your mind would not even be able to comprehend, through the oceans of stars and influx of chaos that surrounds all that I can reach. I am eternal, immortal. For eons I have wandered above with whatever gods you deemed existent," she gestured to the mass of lights floating above, bathing them both in an elysian glow. "searching for something to fill the void that I am." Darkness glanced to Light and she was confused, the furrow of her fine brows creating a reaction all across her face.

"What does that have to do with me?"

("At first I wished to devour you, to extinguish all that you are. But now I am not so sure.")

"The Earth was sundered once because of me," Santana said softly, watching the realization wash over Brittany in a wave. "and in the wake of that your kind was born. You are of me, of Darkness, just as you are also of Light. You may choose to walk one path, but you will always hold both within your hearts. I seek to swallow the Light, for my eternal self hungers endlessly for it. But you, _you _are unique. From my home you called to me, and I answered - flying from the edges of the stars and braving the frozen voids, for you were made of nothing but Light, so different from the rest of your mortal kin. I have watched them evolve through countless generations, but none have inspired such feeling from me. I was never intended to feel, Brittany."

When she grinned at her - rivalling the moons, the suns, all the things she wished she could put into thought - there was a foreign warmth that bloomed all across her skin, chasing away the cold from which she was made.

"People say I feel too much, sometimes."

"Then we are balanced, and it is as it should be."

Above them the sun crawled up in endless loop, eating away at the shadows and tugging Darkness away from her - companion - acquaintance - friend? Brittany read it in her gaze, for her expression crumpled slightly and her stance seemed to deflate. Santana fought down the irrational urge to soothe the worry from her face; she had no friends. Friendship was meaningless to something of her selfish nature.

A hesitation (but Santana was patient. She had waited eternities for this moment.) and Light ducked down, eyes shy. "Will I see you again?"

For the first time that her mind could grasp, Darkness felt her own lips stretch into a smile despite the gnawing anxiety claiming the hollow of her chest.

"As sure as the night descends upon the Earth, I will come."

And that was enough.

.:-:,

She was true to her word. As autumn gave way into the beginnings of winter, Santana appeared every night in the same place. Brittany would always be waiting for her on the swings or by the trees - never impatient, never demanding. Together they'd watch the people slink around the yellow tape, baffled faces always searching for a reason to explain away the corpse gored and left to rot, eyes open wide and jaw slack. Light would bring the newspaper with her and slowly read the article out to Darkness, who had never learned to puzzle through the strange swooping letters that the humans had created over the years.

(What she didn't tell her was that she could simply touch the paper and absorb the information, let it saturate her mind. There was something about the way Brittany formed the signs into words - carefully and with tender attention to each and every sentence - that captivated her so.)

"Are you afraid of me?" She asked one night as they huddled together under the massive oak tree whose branches dipped down to cradle them from the angry wind. Brittany turned to her with quizzical eyes and hesitated folding the paper in her hands, ink rubbing off on her skin and imprinting stories under her flesh. She didn't have to say anything for her body told the tale - it always did, words were never her strong point but you could tell her life story just from watching her dance - as clear as a cloudless night.

"Why would I be?"

Santana gestured to the offensively bright tape helplessly, remembering his lingering screams and the way it jolted straight down to her chest. Nobody had yet found an answer to the high school senior and the trauma that carved out his sternum, but Brittany had said that the school was shocked into such deep mourning that it was almost suffocating to be there.

For days straight, Darkness invaded their dreams and coated herself in their sorrow.

"Not really. I mean, you shouldn't have killed him but he was trying to hurt me. You were just protecting me, so I get it." And putting it in such simple wording took away from the effect of the whole thing, like how Santana had never once protected anything, let alone the very being she should want to tear apart. Sometimes she still got the urges, stretched her fingers to Brittany's. But something else (something warm and wrong) fought it down and she coiled away almost as if burned, disgusted with her inability to decide. Through the struggles Light's gaze never wavered, blue and steady on her face. "But... how did you do it?"

It was the darker girl's turn to look confused. "Do what?"

"Turn into the bull. It was like in the movies, except way cooler and maybe kinda scary."

"I've always been able to do that. What I am here before you isn't my natural form, but what I choose to show to you." Brittany blinked slowly and her head tilted, like listening to an unknown source. (For all Santana knows, she is. Perhaps Light whispers things to the blonde, of compassion and forgiveness and all those foreign thoughts that have no place in her mind.) "Could you show me? Please?"

Darkness swallowed nervously and glanced above for inspiration and a plausible excuse. What should she be so worried about? She is timeless, everlasting. Years from now this enigma will be dead under the ground and she will still reign, watching and waiting and hungering. Why should one opinion mean the world, more than those foolish Creators that she outsmarted years ago but perhaps taught her the most valuable lesson of all?

"I don't think it would be a good idea, I mean-"

_Please?_

She jumped up so high Brittany thought she'd cling to the branches, rearing back to look at her with wide eyes. For a moment her skin rippled dangerously and mist hovered dark and foreboding, but as she calmed the streetlamps regained their fragile glow. "How do you do that?" She almost hissed, one hand curled into a fist to batter her temple. The words rang on endless loop inside the cavern of her skull, taunting her with syllables and soliloquies. "How do you speak to me without words?"

Light shrugged but her eyes were soft. "Everything about you comes easily to me, Santana."

The darker girl stopped and simply looked at her, so closely that it might have been for the first time. She took in the eyes as wide as the oceans she had birthed and the pale skin that glowed with a fine sheen in the light, hair as bright as the sun and thrice as fine. Brittany met her gaze steadily and refused to back down, muscles flexing gently with a rhythm Santana could hear under her chest. It cooed to her and tempted her own tempo to stutter and slow until they were completely in sync, nothing but the quiet howl of snow and the bitter wind passing their own piece of Time.

And with the steady drum in her ears she stretched out her arms, fingers reaching for the tendrils that always lurked around her being. They came willingly and Light gasped as her form began to unravel, frigid mist lifting off her skin and swirling in the air around her. She jerked once, twice; took a step back as her muscles deteriorated to expose her bones until they too became nothing but heavy shadow. Her eyes locked upon Brittany's for a moment before they rolled back and disappeared, a writhing void where Santana once stood. She was freed from her mortal confines and swelled with it, stopping the wind from reaching the tree until it was eerily silent under her spell.

For a moment Brittany stood still, looking deeply into the abyss as if to find a fraction of the girl she'd come to know.

(What was that saying mortals used to use?)

_I can't see anything._ As clear as a summer sky though her lips didn't move a fraction. The coils snaking up into the air shuddered with unease.

_I am as endless as whatever you put to eternity. There is no looking beyond._ Simply thinking the words in her direction caused Brittany's head to tilt as they echoed inside her skull. Never once had she heard of a connection so intense, so palpable that she could almost feel the rope to the other. Through her icy matter was a deeper dark, lingering both in this plane and the next. It called to Brittany through nothing other than her heart, and she stepped towards the roiling mass with no fear in her soul.

Upon ingrained instinct from the everlasting pull, the shadows parted when she stepped forward. Everywhere she moved Darkness flinched away, creating little fissures that would fill themselves in once she moved further inside. _Why are you hiding?_

Darkness swelled. _I am not hiding. You see me all around you, yes?_

_ But you move away from me._ Light's hand flitted out and unconsciously the shadow seeped away from her skin. _Are you afraid?_

_ Never. _(Lies.)

_ Then trust me._

Time held its breath as Darkness stopped, frozen in indecision. She knew not of trust, of how to give yourself over to another. Yet with Brittany's eyes gazing into the deepest parts of her with no indication she would pull away, she let the countless years of loneliness melt into something _else_.

Nothing touched her but she could feel Santana everywhere; in her hair and along her arms and entering her lungs. The breeze that brushed her face lulled her eyes closed as Darkness swirled gently around her, shrouding her in eternal midnight. It was almost as if she had seeped down past the barrier of her skin and lingered there, joining them together in the most intimate of ways. Brittany rotated her palm and shadows gathered in the cup, heavy and smothering. The air was damp on her tongue and she let herself smile, bringing Light into the frozen eye. Santana started but her chuckle, deep and throaty, swept across Brittany's cheek.

_It feels strange._

_ Bad?_

_ No. Just different. Almost as if you were made to rest within me._

(More and more she has to remind herself that they are enemies. Opposites. She should not bask in her Light as much as she does, lest it destroy her entirely.)

The blonde let her head fall back and the mist crawled up her skin, millimetres from touching. For days her clothes will linger with the scent of fresh water and damp moss; soothing in the ways the black of night can be natural, a mother holding her child. _Maybe I was. Would that be a bad thing?_

Santana didn't have the words to reply, but Brittany took in the way the tendrils softened and curled as an answer of its own. Her fingers reached and palmed the mist until it warmed under her flesh - a small portion broke off and wormed its way around her right pinky, separate from the others. Brittany grinned, and could almost feel the silk of Santana's skin on her own.

.:-:.

A/N: And there you have it. Now that we're here, I'd like to ask if anybody would be willing to beta the second part for me. It has much more action and I wrote a lot of it in few sittings, so there're bound to be more mistakes than in this portion. If you would be interested, drop me a message and we'll talk! Reviews are welcome and encouraged!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So this is actually going to turn into 3 different parts. If I would have uploaded the rest, it would have been 12k here which is a bit much for one upload. Look for it sometime later this week - I'm still asking for a beta, if anybody's interested.

.:-:.

She watched Brittany burrow deeper into the blankets until she grumbled in her sleep and yanked them over her head, tired eyes heavy from being out until the break of dawn. From where she was perched high up above the whole world was visible to her, but she had eyes only for the blonde. Her mass expanded, shifted once more until the window that let daylight into her bedroom darkened and softened, cutting off the wandering rays of light that would intrude upon her needed slumber. From her dreams, Brittany mumbled contentedly and cocooned herself away from the rest of reality, one hand hanging out of the protective layer. Her pinky twitched, and something low and cold pinged in what Santana had come to know as her chest.

"Your time on Earth has given you feeling, Darkness." The words floated to her from lightyears away though she could simply reach out and touch the speakers, congregated in a demi-circle around her. She watched their intangible forms and things that could be called hands, constantly flickering to expand and give Life and Matter to new worlds. Even throughout their conversation they mould without knowing, birthing new suns and devouring ones that have lost their luster.

"I hardly believe curiosity counts as an emotion." She forced her voice to remain neutral, hollow as it echoed across the reaches. Darkness watched carefully as they spoke in their not-language, and swallowed down the rising alarm as the first nuances of their speech brushed across her once unfeeling void.

They hummed in unison and floated closer to watch her charge, slumbering obliviously on. There was a surge of protectiveness stamped down because the Creators did not take away, for Destruction was her domain. "It isn't fair to play her for this long. Why have you not yet taken her Light?"

"There is a wall that stops me from touching her. I fear I would Destroy us both if I were to try." A half-lie hidden in truth. One (their leader? They all had no faces, but the way they moved as one being was eerie at best) turned to her and gestured, the swipe of his palm knocking meteors from their path and sparing the fragile planet. "She is not of your prowess. What have you to fear?"

(_"But she holds prowess over me.")_

As she went to respond, their faceless forms flickered into something resembling a smile. "Ah, we see." And the way they said it made it seem like they truly _did;_ Darkness morphed and expanded until she was all their not-lungs could breathe. "You see what?" She hissed, voice wrapping around them. They knew of her and her ways and simply watched, sightless eyes peering far into the distant future, stroking the threads of Time and guiding but never altering.

"We believe the decisions you make will surprise us all, Darkness. Much awaits you; we can see that far into the future." Smoky tendrils wrapped angrily around their limbs and tugged as if she could tease out the answers from their ghostly flesh. Santana writhed, but she felt desperation crawling up what would have been her throat on another plane. As omnipotent as she is omnipatience is _their_ domain, something to be cherished for all she ever had to do was will the world into existence.

_Where are you?_

They turned curiously, tracing the words back to her mind. "It seems she awaits you. Our conversation has taken longer than we thought - strange, how Time suddenly comes in perspective when you spend days in their bodies." Darkness blinked and they were gone, but she could still feel their presence coating her not yet existent skin in a layer of stardust. She shuddered, shaking off the ominously prophetic words and trickled her way slowly into the atmosphere.

She took her time, enjoying how the wind whistled through her void but was caught half way, swirling helplessly before vanishing without a trace. Snow had fallen and the trees now laid barren, stark against the clear night sky that harboured bitter temperatures and the silence only the death of winter could bring. The conversation in the ether had stretched longer than anticipated and it was shown in the furrow of Brittany's brow, how her coat was thicker and her skin lighter than before. Yet she smiled and her face smoothed when the rolling shadows blotted out the starlight, already stretching out in anticipation of the familiar sapping cold that felt both protective and dangerous at once, playing with fire that had no capability to burn.

Santana materialized slowly, taking care to realign her bones and layer the muscles on bit by bit. She drew the Light from the distant galaxies and pulled it under her skin, let it cover the writhing ropes that made up her sinew. Each time she tried her best to make her creation stronger, better than the last. She ached to Create just as to Destroy, to distort and grow things in her flawed perfection so that they may consume all not of herself. Defined muscles were carved out and the sparkle of her eyes grew darker, more malicious. When she smiled at Brittany the flesh of her cheek had not yet bloomed, and her teeth shone right to the roots of her molars. The other girl wrinkled her nose in distaste. "That's gross, San."

Darkness choked at the affectionate nickname, and coughed violently as one tendril snaked the wrong way down her throat. Brittany's eyes widened in alarm as she hacked, hands fluttering uselessly by her side.

"A-are you okay?"

The darker girl held up one hand, face burning. "I'm fine," she wheezed, standing up and noting that she had finished mapping out the plans of her body during her episode. "I believe I swallowed my tongue."

True to her word, she opened her mouth and found it lengthening once more to accommodate for the accidental detachment. Light made a face but declined comment, shivering instead.

"You might want to put- get- make clothes. People will look at you weird."

"I do not require clothes. I feel no chill."

"I know, but um, still. Do," she waved a hand at Santana's body, ankle deep in snow. "something with it? I don't want you to get arrested for independent exposure."

Darkness felt her eyebrows knit into a frown even as the shadows swirled once again around her, licking along her exposed body and rippling like gentle waves. She raised her arms slightly and was shrouded in downy cloth, red as blood that clung like a second skin. They coursed down her legs as liquid and spread, roughened by the biting wind to a dark denim and cinched by a gleaming belt at her waist.

(If she could, she'd forget how easily she bent to Light's every whim.)

"I believe you mean indecent exposure, Brittany." She murmured even as the ground wrapped around her feet and softened, turning ice into fur and snow into rubber. Settled around her shoulders was a large coat, buttoned by her chin. It felt restrictive, but fell away momentarily at the other girl's awe that was written clear as day across her face.

"That's what I said," Brittany muttered, dazed. Darkness smirked and shook out her hair, forcing herself not to think at how the utterly _human_ motion now came instinctively to her. Everything was to be precise and thought out but with innumerable consequences - such is the way of Chaos.

"Why have you requested this of me? Few, if any, come to these forests so late at night."

Light looked away and the nervous twitch of her lips alerted Santana to the fact she was hiding something. But _patience_ echoed in the way the Creators were always watching and waiting, so she simply tilted her head back and let Brittany fish out the words from wherever she kept them haphazardly stored away.

"I, uh, wondered if you wanted to come with me tonight?"

"We are already here, are we not?"

"I meant out. Like, with other people."

Santana frowned. "Spell it clearly, please. You know I cannot see into your intentions as others do."

"I was invited to a party tonight, and I want to take you with me."

They both paused; Light saw the indecision weighing heavily in the smoky, shrouded eyes. She had never been in with a crowd before - all the mortals in such a confined space and with limited temper screamed disaster to her. But she grew hungry and restless, aching for something that Brittany could not give her - not yet.

"Who would be there?"

A hopeful sparkle entered the gaze of oceans, coupled with an eager grin. "A bunch of people from my school and maybe even some from the Glee Club! I know Rachel won't be there because all of the testosterone hurts her skin or something, but Quinn and Mike and Sam will and so will Puck. I really want you to meet them," she paused, shuffling bashfully. "because I've already told them about how great you are and now they want to meet you. Well, Quinn wants to meet you. Mike too. Puck will probably try and get in your pants, but that's his way of saying you're hot."

Darkness blinked slowly, unused to the rush of warmth that cradled what would have been her heart, was she not made of living shadow and crafty illusions. "You have spoken of me to others?"

Pale skin was stained a light red; the dark girl found herself licking her lips with an absent hunger settling carefully through her abdomen. "Yeah. I talk about you a lot... too much, according to some people."

Santana snorted quietly and willed the wind to wrap around Brittany's hand and snake over her pinky. The other girl shot an anxious glance through thick lashes but it was the trust glimmering hopefully out from every pore that spurred Santana to sigh and nod, gesturing to the pavement with only a fraction of hesitation. "Very well. I will accompany you wherever you may choose to go."

She'd follow her no matter where they went, even out into the break of dawn.

But Brittany didn't need to know that.

Light squealed and shot forward without thinking, only halting once the invisible force yanked forcefully at their sternums. The universe stuttered as Darkness froze, breath hitching every curve of her body was trembling mere inches away from hers - she could make out the bursts of scattered stars within her irises, the pale blush that hadn't quite lowered yet and the way she could see countless futures written as stories on Brittany's skin. Her lips parted and for a fleeting second she was seized with the urge to surge forward and damn whatever chance the other girl had at remaining whole and flawless, but somewhere along the weeks (months?) they had begun to gravitate together, she had lost the will to destroy something that was obviously beyond her touch. It was simply too much, to sacrifice what she believed as friendship (so much more, they fit together as nothing ever should) for the momentary, albeit powerful, rush of conquering what might not even be her enemy in the end. Darkness blinked, disoriented at how the very goal of her existence was suddenly thrown into confusion because of a single being.

Brittany bit her lip and her gaze flickered down to Santana's mouth, firm and inviting. Though the halo the other girl seemed to exude screamed danger, there was an allure about her that was otherworldly and impossible to ignore. She was her siren, and no matter which lifetime was laid out before her, would follow the call to her death. She might have been young, but was never so sure of something in her life. It was ingrained in her mind, like dancing or the ability to love.

"Strange, what the Fates decide." The blonde breathed, and for a moment her eyes radiated a glow so blinding Santana flinched back, stepping into the shadows. Her voice swirled and was saturated by the countless trials of humanity, of happiness and loss and knowledge that would never, ever be lost.

Darkness had a memory of another void, warm and filled with kindness in the unfeeling cold.

The moment faded and Light looked away, seeming to not even know what she had said. "We should go, it's probably already started."

They started down the path, so very close but never touching. To a passerby, their auras seemed to meld into the other, forming a space of eternal twilight.

"What do you mean when you say he will try to get into my pants? There is no space for him to fit - they hardly form around me."

Brittany laughed.

Music pulsed from blocks away, and the closer they drew the more it seemed like it would rattle the very bones that lay within their chests. Santana drew a hand to her sternum and pressed, felt the flesh vibrate outwards like a second heartbeat. All around her were voices, a singular wave of noise that muddled her mind and drew her into their petty affairs. She noticed Brittany's concerned stare and shook off how it began to carry her away, focusing instead on the flash of lights illuminating her hair and the air that was engorged with Light to be stolen. The void inside her moaned its discontent, hungering. She grinned viciously - rough, seeking, always predatory.

There was a cup of something foul pushed into her hand and she blinked at it, unsure if her body would even take the liquid. Others were swaying and swallowing the vice greedily, a nectar to their non-existent gods. Darkness raised it to her lips, grimaced at the burn that ran down her throat but curious at the fuzzy warmth that settled through and spread after a little while. Apart from Brittany, it was the only thing which let her feel the illusion of heat.

She wasn't sure if she liked it yet.

"I see Quinn!" Called Light over the noise and she beckoned for her to follow, reaching for her hand only to pull away and awkwardly wave instead. They wove their way through the drunken crowd; more than once Santana had to tame how her skin rippled and changed from all the emotions twisting and clashing in the air, seeping into her where it fell deep down and awoke a ferocity that had not been satisfied in weeks. The shadows hid the mist that had begun to rise from her as her fingers brushed the sweaty bodies and sapped the Light from their beings, dipping into their minds and relishing how easily they were controlled. Through them she learned of lust and manipulation, the art of skin touching skin to acquire everything you could ever want in life.

Such simple minds to such complicated ends.

They stopped in front of a girl with a modest dress but eyes of cutting steel, constantly roving in an attempt to find their next victim. When she noticed Brittany a small smile bloomed across her lips but it was tempered when she caught sight of Santana - it drew in at the edges and became waiting, wary. Darkness watched how she commanded attention just from the way she stood, everything from the placement of her hands to the straightness of her spine a sign of her place on the chain.

But she wore her purity as a shield; Darkness was able to see the things others did not, and noticed the Light that was tainted at the edges by a Dark that ate away under the sweetness of her speech, slick and rotting. It pulsed in rhythm to her heartbeat and forced her mind to consider the worst in people before the best, how she mercilessly tore others down for her own benefit without a guilty conscience. In turn, the stained saint saw the cold gleam in dark eyes, how her skin pulled the glow of the lights and sucked it in until none remained. More than anything, she saw the absence of love bite at the edges of the dark girl's jaw, it hollowed her out to her spine and left her with a directionless rage and a bottomless desire. If she looked through the corner of her vision, she swore that her hair writhed like another being.

"Quinn, this is Santana!" Brittany exclaimed, face splitting into a wide grin. They ended their glaring match and returned their gazes to the intended target, faces softening at her enthusiasm. "I've heard a lot about you," Quinn said, offering her hand. Everything she did looked like it should be coated in honey, spooned out and given as a remedy to the world's problems. Santana wondered how many people saw the bitterness that coated the backs of her teeth.

"Strange, I could not say the same." She smirked slyly, still taking her hand. The shorter blonde bit back a gasp at the icy touch of her skin, frozen despite the suffocating temperature inside the room. Something pained stirred in her chest and she saw Santana swallow slowly, almost shuddering with an invisible force before drawing back. The cold lingered.

There was a sudden arm draped over her shoulders and Darkness stiffened visibly, face drawing into a fierce scowl as the scent of sweat and bodywash invaded her nose. "Hey there, sweetheart. How come I've never seen you 'round this cow-town before?" She opened her mouth but Brittany caught her shadow swell in the gloom and leaned in, brushing her palm close enough to her skin so that she'd feel the burn.

"I don't come from here, nor anywhere close." Short, clipped. The boy raised his brows and smoothed a hand over his mohawk, giving a smile that was supposed to be seductive.

"Oh really? An exotic babe, then? The Puckster is good for showing the newbies around town." Her expression clouded hopelessly, and she glanced to Light for guidance. Brittany gingerly removed Puck's arm from her shoulders and laid it down at his side - Santana didn't miss how her nails ran along his bicep in apology.

(Her eyes met his, and within them she saw a boy too scared to be a man but trying desperately to fill the hole left behind. Inside her head she saw flashes of a past that played sadder than he'd like, constantly searching and always failing to be the person everybody else needed. So instead, he reinvented himself into somebody that hid his regrets.

There was more Dark than Light, but whatever shone through was so thoughtlessly white that she left it be, safe in the hollow of his chest.)

"She's not interested. Puck, this is Santana. Santana, Puck. Be nice." Subtly, she brushed her fingers over her belt buckle to ensure the gap remained sealed. From beside her, Brittany snickered. "I assure you, _Puck_, I need no showing to any part of this tiny village. Anything I require is just at my fingertips." He tilted his head and she saw the wheels chugging along, clunky and unused.

"Why d'you talk like Berry?"

Santana scowled at once more being left in the dark (strange, it never would have bothered her before) and ignored the thoughtful glance Quinn sent her way, eyes narrowing to a calculating stare.

"I have told you before, I haven't lived around this town. Who's this Berry, and why do I feel like it is unfortunate that I am associated with her?" This time they all laughed, full and deep despite Brittany's pout and grumblings for them to stop being mean.

The shorter blonde excused herself momentarily, and Santana's eyes were drawn to the swaying of her hips - or more aptly, what rested between the hidden curves. Previously guarded by the unconscious cross of her hands, there was a small swell of Light glowing softly from where it rested against her abdomen. It hummed in time to her heartbeat and rebuffed all attempts for the Dark to snake into its depths. She frowned, noting that it was dim but untouched by shadow, and how it seemed to sing a high, crooning melody on the edges of her hearing.

Brittany watched her track Quinn's progress through the crowds and leaned in, a question in her eyes.

"There's this... thing," Darkness murmured, hands flitting over her own stomach. "around her. Light in her belly. I've never seen it before." Brittany knew of her constant push and pull between Light and Dark and nodded slightly, brows furrowing as something like longing painted itself over her features.

"Quinn had a baby a while ago, and I don't think she's ever let her go. She still holds her close even though she's already given her up, you know? She gets this expression whenever she talks about her, lost and kind of broken." They lock eyes, and if she could she'd brand a warning into the coffee tinted flesh. "Don't take it from her, San. Please. It's like the only thing that keeps her up sometimes." And Santana knew about being carved out until you stood crooked and nodded slightly, guiltily scraping the remnants of Quinn's soft hand from her skin. Light brightened visibly and beckoned to the masses, unconsciously swaying her hips in tune to the song that hummed through them both.

"Come dance with me?" she pouted, already beginning to make her way forward. Dancing is the only thing that made sense to her sometimes - as much as she hated it, parts of Santana were still a mystery to her. (But she was learning; the furrow of her forehead and the twitch of her fingers were slowly coming together, a patchwork story sewn together through different pieces and different days.) "I don't know how to dance, and we can't..." she trailed off, hands gesturing to their bodies.

Brittany felt her resolve weakening, hour after hour. Her days were filled with the thought of Santana's skin under hers, soft and supple and ready for taking. _One day,_ her heart whispered, _she'll let you in, and you'll be unbeatable together._ And she's always followed what her heart said without fail - it's how she didn't run from her when she appeared from the shadows all those nights ago. There was just something there, begging to give her a chance.

"It's okay," and it would be. "I'll teach you. Come on." And when she disappeared into the crowd, Darkness hesitated but followed, fingers brushing along the moving bodies for strength. She left a ripple in her wake, moving outwards like a surge of the sea. They met as they always do, eyes colliding when their bodies could not. After a brief moment of indecision Brittany hovered her hands inches from Santana's hips, guiding her movements in time to the pulsing base that shook the ground under her feet. Ever so slowly she began to move, spurred on by the encouraging smile in the dark and how the crush of bodies seemed to writhe as an extension of herself. She never understood how mortals could lose themselves in song, souls surrendered and bared out for all to see. But with those _eyes_ tracking her movement and moving in sync to the complicated rhythms with a roll of taut muscle and sinuous sway of slender hips, she began to see that maybe life was different than she originally thought out.

There was something else that pushed them together, a deeper understanding that had them mere millimetres from the other, constantly pushing the closing until there would one day be no air between them. The sweat from Brittany's skin somehow migrated to Santana's and gave her the illusion of humanity, phantom thirst and the strange warmth from the alcohol fuzzing her brain and slipping her iron-clad will. Around her the shadows swirled and licked at her heels, lost amidst the stamping feet of those who tried too hard to forget. From her position she looked up and let her mind's eye tear the roof off of the house, taking comfort in the way her ethereal home swirled, distant and ever changing from the power of a million dying suns.

Her fingers brushed against rough denim and they were too lost in their trance to care; their given Light bloated her, made her bold. Santana's head migrated to Brittany's shoulder and her counterpart shuddered deep and needy as her breath brushed against the flushed skin of her neck. Mist began to rise off of her flesh and swirl around Brittany, trapping her in a welcome embrace. Hundreds of things invaded Light's mind in broken pictures, flashes of desire and dark eyes and nails burning pathways across her skin. It took time to realize they weren't hers, their connection thickened and visible between their chests, stretching out and sinking deep into their veins where it lit them on fire. Brittany saw the spiralling galaxies, saw how Santana was offering it all to her through unspoken words and the feelings that were just beginning to rear their faces to the open air.

Their lips parted and gravitated until there was so little room they were one being (Santana was terrified and enthralled with how Brittany made her feel so powerless when really the world was at her feet), collective breath sucked from the room as their ragged inhales met. Countless stars bloomed in the space of their skin but the shadows screamed and something tugged Santana hard, jerking away from Brittany just before they touched and how her useless heart was hammering rapid fire in her chest. They both cringed at how the connection shuddered and snapped, moment lost but never forgotten.

"I-I have.. have to..." she bolted, skin crawling. Darkness wrestled her way through the crowd and staggered outside, stepping into the crisp winter air and feeling eons of tension run thick as rivers down her body. _It's time to reap the seeds you have planted, _the night whispered and she stepped willingly into the space between the house and the fence, tendrils whipping into a storm around her until she vanished without a trace.

Still inside, Light wrapped her arms around herself and felt the phantom embrace of Santana's lips mere millimetres from her own. Even in her disappointment she smiled, tasting her impending victory thick on her waiting tongue.

.:-:.

She stepped into the moon with the shadows still shrouding her like a sheet, plastered to her body in the light wind. An abandoned street that reeked of false hopes and unwashed bodies; her nose wrinkled in distaste even as her once again bare feet stepped down to the frigid stone. Blood stuck to her skin and she glanced down, impartial to the stream twisting through the cracks of the cobble.

"I know you are here," voice soft and full of what lesser men would think of sympathy, she raised a hand and crooked her fingers in invitation "come, little man. Your time has run out." And he appeared out of the shadows, eyes haunted and holding a dripping knife in his right hand. The youth Darkness had granted him had turned his once soft features hard and unkind, aged with something only sorrow could show. From behind him bodies sprawled, lifeless and gutted, their lives bleeding out for everybody to see.

He watched as she walked to them, kneeling down and dipping her fingers in their wounds. She raised her glistening fingers to him and smiled as he hardly flinched, opening his lips to her seeking digits and suckling the salt from her skin. The purpose that had burned bright for so many years had been fulfilled, and in the ashes was a directionless longing for forgiveness. His eyes closed and his unsaid words recited ancient prayers, begging for mercy but never regret.

As if reading into his mind (and maybe she was, he could feel her roots clawing low in his belly, constantly tearing and healing his flesh) her smile turned amused, tongue tracing plump lips. Her fingers left his mouth with a wet pop, a string of spittle dribbling down his chin. "Your God cannot help you now. You belong to me."

A moan echoed out into the still night air and she turned her attention downwards, to the pitiful mess of what she assumed to be a man trying to crawl away from the ruined husks of his companions. "This one wasn't even part of your injustice," she said, bringing a foot down to his shattered sternum. He howled in pain, severed skin stretching as he raised a feeble hand to grasp at her ankle. Darkness remained impassive, but her pitch eyes jumped in mild entertainment. "but you still felt to make him suffer. Was he simply a bystander in your insatiable rage?"

She found purchase across his face, shuddering momentarily as his memories invaded her mind. Years of an existence built on hatred and anger, unnatural union that should never have been. The cursed creature writhed pitifully under her iron hold, mouth open and inhaling with a soft sucking sound, blood bubbling from under his shirt.

And in the background the man's disgust turning into a vast weariness, knife falling from his fingers even as his powerful hands found homes in the wall beside him. Brick splintered and skin split but Darkness remained, staring into horrified green eyes and seeing the reflection of another within him.

(A mother brutally killed, a daughter taken and violated. A father returning to a crimson swathed home, soulmate dead and offspring missing. Almost a year of frenzied searching before another body to join the first, distended stomach speaking of an atrocity hardly spoken of. But the babe gone, damned to wander with a monster of a father and the same eyes as his dead mother.)

Santana hummed low in her throat and backed away, thoughtful. The saturation of Light had left her body and now she was hungry, craving for something that was rightly hers. A hand extended and a moment later the old man moved to her, his rough cheek heavy in her palm. Their eyes met and she gripped his jaw, lithe fingers turning his gaze to the dying boy. "What are you going to do with him?"

"Do what you want with him. I've had my revenge." His tone was flat, inviting the fate he had sealed for himself. She smiled and the shadows writhed in her approval, brushing against ankles that didn't even flinch. The pads of her fingers mapped out flat cheekbones and a stubborn jaw, tense from years of an invisible weight. "Come then," she whispered, breath cold across his skin. "let us see what the void holds for you." Darkness sealed their lips and her chest opened, skin splitting to reveal black ropes dribbling a slime that fell onto the stone and ate away at the surface. His eyes widened as the mass seemed to gather together with a wet sound, twisting and twining before pausing, everything still. He reared back to catch a glimpse of bottomless eyes before it left her and burrowed into the deepest reaches of him.

The cord drilled through his torso and found his heart, pulsing hungrily. With every breath drawn it expanded, hollowing him out and shifting his bones for better reach. He screamed and hands snapped down to yank the rotting limb from his body, but the dark substance burned his skin and tainted his blood. Even his newly found strength couldn't shift the writhing mass, and it held him up when his knees buckled from the pain. Santana grinned, teeth eerily white in the soft glow of the moon and pressed forward; his feet left the ground as it lifted him up, shadows grasping and clawing at his limbs. Around the edges his skin began to blacken, veins standing stark from the corruption that now ran rampant. His soul loosened and was tugged through their connection, absorbed hastily into her essence where she could hear him screaming long after his voice left him.

Sticky tendrils tenderly took his now limp body and kept it against the brick wall, hardly a murmur as the rope pulled back and coiled neatly into her writhing chest. She took his sallow face in her hands, admiring the way little snakes travelled under his flesh and how his empty eyes reflected the moonlight. A few fingers brushed back matted hair from his face, tucking it behind his ear in a mockery of affection. "You belong eternally to me now," Santana murmured, watching the black grime spill from the hole carved out in his chest. She had a brief flash of horns and a weak body flung aside; her smile was promising in the worst of ways, dark and angry. "in return for the gift I had granted you. No matter where you are, you will answer my call. I hold dominion not only over your body, but your soul. Do you understand?"

His hollow eyes roamed her face but he nodded, movements stiff and pained. Somewhere, his mind wondered if his wife would be disappointed, but her lips once again stole the thought from his being. "Good. Now rest, heal. I will have need of you soon." And the shadows dragged him through the wall into a strange, suspended reality where they wrapped him up in a cocoon and filled him to bursting. Eventually, the presence of his mistress all around him lulled him into an uneasy slumber.

Her attention turned then to the only living form, the boy curled into a pitiful ball, clutching at his ruined sternum. It wouldn't be long now, she thought, watching the blood rise from his lips and spill out in sticky streams. Each step stuck to the floor as Darkness hovered over him, hair writhing like a separate being after her influx of power. There was only black in her eyes as the shadows gathered to form a magnificent spear, metal gleaming coldly in the soft light reflected down into the alley. She grasped the hovering weapon and tested the weight in her hand, wicked point lining with the stained forehead presented below her. His eyes were clouded and dazed, presence of mind robbed from lack of blood.

One foot found purchase in his crushed chest and pushed him flat on his back, ignoring the pitiful screams it produced. From the wall, mist touched her ear, careful. _Others are coming,_ it mumbled to her, guiding her fist to clench harder around the shaft of the spear. She raised her arm, muscles tensing in preparation for the strike.

_Don't kill him.  
><em>

Her head whipped up, faltering at the apex of her thrust.

_Brittany? Where are you?_ She caught a momentary glimpse in her mind of the taller figure standing under the stars, face tilted upwards and eyes closed in concentration. _It doesn't matter. Just don't kill him, please._

_Why?_

_He didn't do anything wrong. It's not his fault. _

From her position she could see his Light struggling to get through the oppressive Darkness that his birthright granted him, weak and dim. She grimaced.

"Let the Fates decide your end," she spat, clutching the spear so hard it burst into dark vapour. Santana looked away, appalled at her own failure. But inside there was already a building warmth punctuated by a pleased smile thousands of miles away, burning away the shadow of the night. "you won't last the night either way."

_First, _Brittany whispered in her head, _a gift from me._

Darkness raised her arm willingly though it was her connection that made it so, a glow gathering into the cup of her palm. Its warmth seared her skin but she dared not pull away, feeling the foreign power rush from the center of her chest, through her veins and out the edges of her fingertips. It floated from her and swirled to his face, hovering for a moment before disappearing into the feeble part of his mouth.

The moment it touched his heart Santana fell back, shielding her eyes as the Darkness slid away, streamed in all directions. From it rose a Light so pure and bright she had to look to the street, feeling it burned into her mind. The glimmer seemed to cover his skin in a protective barrier, turning his eyes a brilliant malachite. Voices were louder now, drawn to his screaming, but she was captivated as the barrier simply melted and his soul cradled the new-found happiness that was allowed to perch in his chest.

_How..._

_It's okay. Come home._

And she stepped into the darkness just as others burst into the alley, faces drawn and horrified from the scene surrounding them. One rushed to the boy still thrashing the best his ruined body allowed. Tears streamed from his face, but not from the pain that had seemed to simply vanish.

(A few weeks later, an interview will run in the newspaper about a boy that was spared a brutal death through quick thinking and hours of surgery. But his eyes will be filled with awe as he speaks of a dark angel with eyes of night but hands of sunlight in the alleyway, taking away the agony of his broken bones. Brittany will look over at her with pride bursting from her eyes and smile so wide the stars threaten to split open, thinking of things and forevers that Darkness would never have wished before.

Santana will be filled with such a sense of deep peace it threatens to drown her and smile back, burdened with the knowledge that something is hovering on the horizon that will change them forever.)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This is the last part, thank you so much for all of you who stuck with me. I did the best I could - I hoe you'll enjoy!

.:-:.

It was an accident that started the beginning (or perhaps the end) of things.

Santana stood on the shores of the small lake, feeling the gentle waves lap at her cold ankles. Winter had fallen through to spring and all around her life was starting to breathe once more, the trees shaking awake from their slumber and the birds swooping back from their warm winters. She could hear the sluggish heartbeats of the tiny animals stirring once more, if she took the time to listen. In this humid darkness Brittany seemed to bloom, new life feeding back into the shine of her hair and the pallor of her skin into ways Santana had never before seen. She attempted to put words to her beauty, but found none suitable.

(In one of the stories Light read to her, she spoke of perfection. Perhaps, in time, it would seem adequate to express all the things she did not know how to say.)

But there were other matters to attend to. Across the seas unease was stirring, corruption and poverty striking into the hearts of men. Injustice had made them angry, but pain had made them desperate. Darkness stepped carefully to the rippling surface of the water, humming approval when it didn't break under her weight. Languidly, she made her way to the center of what was more a pond than a lake, her steps creating tiny circles behind her until they all overlapped in a strange, chaotic pattern.

Once she stood in the center, she glanced down once at the black depths before extending her hand and allowing a wisp of shadow to leave her fingers. It spiralled through the air and touched the water; from it, countless constellations exploded beneath her feet until the liquid was glowing, swirling with stars and the ether from which she had come. She cupped her palms and scooped the sparkling water, feeling the reflections of the sleeping suns flicker softly across the regal plains of her features.

"Come," she whispered and threw her arms outwards, scattering the drops. They hung motionless for a moment before gathering together in an angry ball, streaking through the confines but always kept in a rough sphere. From it the continents formed across the surface, surrounded by the endless oceans and infinite space. Santana touched a piece of land, satisfied when the surface morphed and shifted until she was peering down on the people and their strife.

Even from here she could feel their rage, bright and hot like a beacon. Inside their bodies were the beginnings of her entropy, swelling and feeding from years and years of suppression. She grinned, unknowing how the inky darkness had leaked into her eyes and left them as shifting onyx pools. A single nail trailed over the small world and cut a deep swath in the ethereal bodies - from her touch Dark exploded, rising up and devouring all goodness in her path. Their minds snapped and went white with fury, forms lashing out and striking others down. The once subtle war, raged behind closed doors and hidden contracts, turned into a bloody conflagration that killed thousands and left the countries paralysed in fear.

Another whispered word and the gleaming water split open, yanked apart by invisible force. From it rose a figure, all hard muscles and dead eyes and white skin with black veins littering the sallow flesh. He watched her feet, head bowed and stiff joints folded to bask in her glory. "You have healed?" She asked him, cupping the tiny world in her palm and feeling the shockwave ripple under her feet.

"Yes, mistress." His voice was dry and rotten; when he spoke she was reminded of old scrolls and the musty scent of an item abandoned. There was no steady beat of his heart, nothing but silence echoed in his chest.

(For a moment she placed the sound in Brittany's body and swallowed down the sudden wave of panic.)

Around her the shadows licked at her skin, soothing and soft. Her hand came back to brush at her hair, intrigued with how it floated away and wrapped around her fingers. "Then I already have my first task for you." She opened her mouth to say more but his head tilted warily to the side, glassy eyes seeking something amongst the shadows of the shoreline. _To me_, she commanded the dark and it gave to show a figure crouching in the trees. A hand lashed out and turned to muscle; a moment later a shriek rang out; Santana drew the struggling human in by the slimy tendrils that had grasped its (her) neck. A flash of blonde and her eyes narrowed, lips curled to reveal shinybright teeth that reflected eerily in the stygian night.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you where you stand, Fabray." Darkness snarled, unaware of how her voice gathered to encompass multiple tongues, sweeping across the water with unseen force. Quinn struggled and her face was snowy in the light, blood pumping desperately from the heartbeat that they could see slamming under her skin. Santana raised her higher, ropes pinning her legs together and beginning to ooze across her face. Her mouth opened and they slid in - from them she could feel the heat of her insides, tempting and sweet. She recoiled but bit down and in returned the once solid substance burst into mist, rushing back out of her throat. Their gazes remained locked, unwilling to back down.

_Here, _she called and the man answered, dipping down so that her other hand could rest on his cold forehead. From her he witnessed broken shards of men dying, screaming, clutching their heads to pull out the dark things they had suddenly wished upon their enemies. A sprawling city with the seeds of discord waiting to be sowed. "Go now, and do not come back until you have fulfilled what I have asked of you." With a murmured agreement he sunk back down into the glowing water, rushing through his nose and mouth until it swallowed him whole and they were alone.

Her hands scrabbled on the grime but she did not scream as the vile substance burned her skin; no, instead she dug her nails in, trying ever harder to escape Santana's grasp. Darkness smirked and drew her in so close she could see the abyss of her eyes, the mist of her skin and the sharpness of her teeth.

Darkness watched as her lips formed soundless words, syllables heavy and familiar on her own tongue.

"B-B...rit-ta...a-ny," she choked and immediately Santana stiffened, closing her eyes and throwing her mind forward to where she could feel the presence of the blonde, strong and welcoming. As her aura caressed the shimmer of Light she could see in her mind's eye, the darker girl felt an answering prod in her head, quizzical and seeking. She reassured her counterpart and returned to her body where Quinn was beginning to lose her thoughts to unconsciousness.

(But she was right. Knowing they had a connection, she could never sever it. Though Light's forgiveness went far, she did not wish to know where it ended.)

Under her feet stemmed a dry, cracked ground and she released the shorter blonde where she crumpled in a heap. Her arm twisted and shortened before returning to its original form - Santana absently flexed her clawed hands and waited for her to regain her breath. They stood still for what seemed like eternities on this tiny island (strange, how her perspective of Time was now so flawed) with nothing but Quinn's hacking coughs to pierce the air.

Eventually she rose, wiping the cold sweat from her brow and the imprint of the sticky black from her skin. They eyed each other for a moment; Santana's eyes had regained their whites and her hair was no longer whipping about her. For a vague moment, Quinn wondered if she could be an angel.

"What _are_ you?" She mumbled, not quite in awe, peering down at the water that was still teeming with untold amounts of burning suns scattered within the deep blue void. Her fingers dipped into the water and she peered into the drops collected on her skin - when her tongue reached out to taste the budding warmth soothed her ravaged throat and tattooed galaxies on the backs of her eyes.

For a singular moment Quinn saw what Brittany saw whenever they came close; millions of things colliding and separating to form this one moment of Reality.

Somehow, she found herself relaxing under Santana's intense stare.

"I suppose the question would be, what _aren't_ I?" Darkness mused carefully. She knew little of the blonde, unable to get past the protective layer of Light swirling at her belly. Or perhaps, unwilling.

Yet she did not wish to show this one her eternal home, troubled by the fact that it their secret to share. Quinn looked up almost as if she knew - and there was a glimpse of the Creators, sightless eyes peering down from the stratosphere. Something had been set in motion, the frenzy of their hands was enough to make her anxious, jaw clenching and whips lashing out nervously from all around her.

"Unloved." She whipped her head to the girl, one foot splayed threateningly out. Quinn held her ground, knuckles white.

"What?"

"When I first saw you, I knew there was something off. You were as cold as ice and whenever you were near it felt like there was a hole in my chest, sucking the warmth from me. But the way Brittany looked at you, spoke about you-" she broke off for a second, furrowing her brow in an attempt to catch her words into coherent sentences, "she's nice to everybody. I know you've seen it. But I've known her since we were kids, and she's never looked at somebody like that."

There was a roaring in her ears, growing the faster the Creators moved. Their language washed all around her now in battering waves, speaking of Time and Light and Humanity that she was never able to hear. "Like what?"

"Like she'd end the world to keep you by her side." Quinn said softly, watching the first notion of fear flicker over Santana's features. "Like you're everything she ever asked for and all she ever wanted. She loves you, Santana. I can see it whenever she moves or talks about you. It spills out of her like a cup that's too full. I don't know what _this _is," she gestured to her, to the mist that swarmed about her in a frenzy, whipping cold wind that bit at her cheeks, "but you need to do something about it before it destroys her."

"I would _never_ hurt her!" Darkness roared as the words hit too close to home. Her feet left the ground and her fingers curled into points, eyes glowing angrily and without direction. Quinn stepped back as her skin began to roil, swirls of black under her flesh pulsing outwards in buffeting waves that drove her to the edge of their little island.

_Santana?_ Like a cooling balm to her anger, she exhaled shakily and allowed the fierce gale to quiet.

_Brittany._

_Are you okay? Why are you scared?_

_ I'm fine._ But Brittany knew - Santana had the flash of her brow drawn together, teeth worrying her lower lip.

_Could you come?_

_ Soon._

And with that she turned again to Quinn, all wide eyes and ruffled hair as the waves licked her heels. "I am made of hate. They Created me from the discontent of the universe, how there was yet no suns to illuminate the void. Brittany is everything I am not... she is not of the Light, she _is_ the Light. It was set from the beginning that we were meant to end the other. Fate had said it so."

Her voice trembled and the tendrils drooped, dropping limply as she hit the ground with a hard thump. "Light shows the good in man, the Humanity that I lack. Brittany feels - loves - too much. I was not _made_ to love, Quinn. Certainly not made to love her." But the flower of something that had begun to bloom, warped and untouched by the sun, filled her endless chest and choked her with its weight. She was nothing without the taller girl's presence by her side, teaching her the simple joys of movement and smiles. Even now her warmth crawled through her skin, seeping down to linger in her bitter bones.

But the warmth was real, and she saw a slender hand resting tentatively on her bicep. She traced the tired nails up to her face, nervous and sad but so very open. For a second their eyes connected, and the understanding went deeper than anything they could ever put into words. "Fate is never set in stone, Santana. If you just give in, things may surprise you."

She opened her mouth to object but found she couldn't. Instead she glanced up once and her back split open, exploding in a writhing mass of thick ropes that dripped acidic slime. Quinn yelped and jumped back as she lifted herself up by these cables, thrust them into the glowing water and drew upon their Light.

Stardust travelled through and Darkness sucked in as much as she ever had, bloating herself with their girth. She moaned as the world was temporarily stolen of all illumination, plunged into terrifying shadow. Nothing was beyond her grasp and the possibilities were endless; she heard children screaming, families praying, animals barking. But from within her the snared suns pulsed, sending a feeble glow out from under her skin. She drowned herself in the courage they presented, feeling her muscles swell and tense as she struggled to take it all in. A pathway to the shore opened up, and the shorter blonde gasped at Santana's eyes flashed a brilliant white.

"Fate is not set in stone." She whispered again, and with a shuddering breath, was gone.

(If she had waited another moment before vanishing, she would have heard the Creators murmur of a new beginning to overwrite the end.)

.:-:.

It was mere seconds even though it felt like lifetimes, chasing through their connection and stumbling into Brittany's bedroom. Instead of gathering slowly she surged forward from the corner, narrowly avoiding the bowl Brittany threw in her alarm. They stared at each other for a moment; Light took in the tendrils that whipped around her form, heaving chest and glowing skin with a mixture of awe and concern.

"Are you okay?" From the background she could hear Elaine Paige singing of loss and regret, wailing mournfully as the other cats looked on.

But she wasn't. For a moment she looked so horribly lost standing naked and vulnerable amidst the fluffy toys that everything in Brittany ached to wipe it away, fingers visibly twitching. Santana looked around helplessly for a second before spreading her arms wide, feeling her chest gape open once more as she let all the things she couldn't say rush through the connection that once again stood stark in the dull light. Even through her haze of apprehension Brittany stood, mimicking her position and feeling something invisible punch its way through her sternum.

And for a blissful second there was nothingness.

Frenzied slashes of convoluted memory seared her way through her mind, slamming her back a step with the sheer amount of _something_ hidden in Santana's feelings of hopelessness. For the first time she felt the true power of Santana's age press against her, tugging her high up above the world so they could watch the universe with impartial eyes. She watched the birth of space, the birth of _her_ play out, celestial beings reaching out to morph and shape into the things she knew now.

There was a cold crawling along her skin and somehow she _knew_ that they had moved until they were so so close together (they always gravitated until Brittany was here and Santana was there and there was no distance between them) but she was captivated at how the galaxies reflected in the dark of her eyes and the way the flux of Chaos slithered its way into the curl of her palm. Here, Darkness was simply so stunning that it took her breath away, robbed her of whatever feeble capability of speech she had learned. (Perfection.)

"You are everything to me," her voice trembled as she spoke but within it was the conviction of the ages, sweet like smoke that wrapped Brittany in satin. "and with you I feel warmth, and light, and happiness. You are my perfection, my missing half. But I-I don't want to taint you, Brittany. You are so pure and kind and I will only drag you down." But Light shook her head softly, smiling like a sparrow with a healing wing.

"I'm not afraid of the Darkness, Santana. It's a part of you. Anything that you are I'll love way past the day I die."

And instead of stumbling over herself Santana unravelled, stretched out until she touched the edges of space and let Light truly, fully see into her. Her ribs snapped open one by one as the skin split and curled, peeling back to reveal the shifting mass of black grime underneath. Even as she tugged away the barriers, the tendrils that made up her musculature shifted back, exposing the endless cavern that hid itself away under her flawless facade.

(She offered everything that she was and could be, harboured in the vast space of her chest. In her hands were the stars and the moons and the Earth, Life and Death and Balance. Through her filtered the constant weave of Light and Dark, a glimpse into Santana's void. But what drew Brittany's attention was the soft thing that pulsed in terror the closer she drifted towards it, singing high and warbling and true. Inside her something tugged in return, and a smile painted itself upon her lips.)

_Take me and all my shadow, and I promise I will be with you past the end of Time._

But she didn't need to ask; Brittany had always been waiting for Santana, before she even knew what it was she was waiting for.

_Take me and all my light, and I promise I will chase away your pain. _

But she didn't need to ask; Santana had been floating emptily without something to anchor her to the curve of the earth.

They gravitated together high up in the void and down below their bodies moved until nothing but a sliver of air passed between them, hot and cold breath mixing to form a storm. Santana smiled shakily and felt the words pass her mind from where she'd learned them the moment Brittany entered her sights.

_(If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is..._)

_I love you._

And all of a sudden there was no space between them.

Their lips met and from it rose a shockwave that threw the stars out of alignment, blasting meteors into the far reaches of the universe. They were yanked back down into her bedroom and Darkness gasped as she felt warmth for the first time; it seared through her chest like liquid and pooled behind her eyes. She knew of kindness and love, sacrifice and forgiveness. The tips of her fingers buzzed as she gripped Brittany's waist, pulled them flush together and opened her mouth to accept the offering brushed across her lips. In turn Light knew the chill of death, the far reaching cold of sadness and the boiling fury of hate. But Santana burned away the pain and seared a trail of kisses down her neck, sharp teeth latching onto her pulse and marking her forever.

Brittany buried her fingers in locks that moved on their own, inky shadow contrasting on her skin that glowed with a gleam so bright Santana was forced to slit her eyes. All around them beings from all walks of life bowed at the sudden influx of raw power that shook the core of the Earth, sending waves battering against the shores and rending the ground in two. The Creators howled as Chaos and Harmony clashed, tearing apart the fabric of their home until the galaxies were lit in an explosion of untold proportions. Light moaned and tugged Darkness up roughly, smashing their lips together again even as fingernails dipped in dark twisted and yanked the clothing from her body.

"Up," Santana snarled against her lips and Brittany obliged, wrapping her legs around slender hips and hissing in unison as their combined heat threatened to send them over. Santana's hands found strong thighs and she walked her over to the bed, never parting from her mouth and swallowing all the desperate sounds she wasn't sure who was making.

They fell in a tangle of black and gold, palms smoothing the nail-marks left by seeking fingers. The very air throbbed around them as skin slid along skin, creating trembles along the world. Brittany detached and bent down to take a nipple in her mouth, groaning around the tender skin as their joint connection sent a shudder of pleasure searing through them both. She could see it, dense and misty with cords joining them through the sternum. Her fingers skimmed it and the resulting ripple had Santana's head thrown back, a soundless howl leaving her lips.

People rushed into the street as the air swarmed, bloated with tension as both moon and sun wheeled blindingly fast overhead. Day and night flickered so fleetingly they were stuck on loop, casting and retrieving shadows over the world. In public people had thrown themselves to their knees, praying to a God they didn't know to save them from the end that was sure to come.

Santana rolled them so she was hovering over her counterpart, fingers flexing at her hips. She traced constellations at her navel, revelling at how every shudder drawn from Brittany's flesh would echo inside her own center. She studied the flush of Brittany's cheeks, the gentle part of her mouth and the heave of her chest. Once clear blue were now swimming with streaks of light to contrast how they'd darkened to the colour of roiling storms, pupils blown and feral in the shadow of the room. A quiet _please_ dragged her from her stupor, and she placed a burning kiss to her mouth just as her fingers found a different kind of heat.

Brittany's spine arched and she groaned deep in her throat, fingers scrabbling for purchase on the long, sinuous muscle of Santana's back - she found the frenzied cords and gripped so hard that Santana's hips bucked in return, oblivious to the grime that was supposed to eat at her flesh. She could feel her all around her, so deep inside that her presence felt like it was brushing the bottom of her heart. As they began a punishing rhythm of drawn out strokes just to be slammed back in she slid a thigh between Santana's, feeling the slick warmth of her arousal coat her skin over the sheen of their sweat. They spoke in forevers as Brittany's tongue curled in her mouth, hips meeting and slamming together even as a hand snaked down and roughly pressed against Santana's clit. She swallowed her shaking moan and increased their pace, blindly crawling to the one thing that could save her from the heat that had begun to cloud her mind and overtake all rational thought.

The Creators watched from their home as Matter began to unravel under their combined power, Light and Dark mixing for the first time until it was a single blend of half-gloom that eclipsed any attempt to see into the future. They shook as Santana did, jaw dropping and lips desperately meeting Brittany's when a clench in her belly shot straight up to their connection and _burned_. A clash of teeth and tongue and sharp inhales; Darkness ground down rapidly as she felt herself teetering on the brink of everything she had ever come to know. Her back curled and the tendrils slammed holes in the walls, anchoring her though she was about to fly away.

"I-I'm gonna-" she was cut off as Brittany nodded, threading one hand through her writhing hair and tugging them together until they were one being. "I love you," was panted, heavy and strained into her ear and Santana lost it, roaring her release. The rush sparked through her and down through Brittany who joined her in ecstasy, wrapping both legs back around her waist and crushing them together. From the center of their chests an explosion bloomed, waves of blinding fire searing across the planet. Brittany's eyes exuded a dizzying rush of light while Santana's gathered the shadow, opposites writhing and clawing and falling into oblivion. Countless Realities were torn from the flow of Time as they shook, clinging to each other through the heights of their highs. Somewhere along the line Brittany had started crying and Santana trembled as she kissed away her tears.

.:-:.

In the aftermath of the union that had burned away the stars, people stumbled upright, bruised and bleeding. Buildings were crushed and countless dead, not taking into consideration whole Realities that were cleaved from existence, simply devoured as Chaos took their feeble lives and tore them apart. Some were already calling it the Final Reckoning, while others had no words left after the wall of light had knocked them over and stole their breath. But in the small, unassuming town of Lima, Ohio, two forms were intertwined so closely together they could be one being. Their hair swirled to form whimsical patterns and a pale leg was slung over twitching hips. From inside the room, a soft glow emitted from the connection that pulsed in the aftermaths of everything.

Santana closed her eyes and reached inside herself, prodding at the swirling mass of shadow. On the outside little had changed, but if she peered into the very eye of the void there was a pinprick of Light, and in it she sees the ocean of Brittany's eyes and hears the sea breeze of her voice. There was a smile she wasn't aware she was making until soft fingers mapped the pattern of her lips, drawing her back. When she turned her head she's met by sparkling blue peeking out from under blonde lashes.

She smiled softly, and felt her heart swell impossibly large.

"Hi," she whispered, voice hoarse.

"Hi." Light mumbled back, burying her head in Santana's shoulder. She could already feel her skin deepening, taking on the thrill of immortality that resided so heavily inside the heart of Darkness. Together they would remain, Eternal, keepers of Balance. Soon she would learn the secrets of the world, how to bring the ground to her feet and mend something that could only be broken. Their lips met in a lazy kiss at the promise of forever with the knowledge that nothing could tear them apart.

Around them there were the sounds of sirens painfully loud in the ruined room, but in their bubble of quiet something caught her eye. The darker girl carefully got up from the bed on shaky legs, fingers gliding along the cracked walls as her feet took her to the window.

Outside people ran and sobbed, fleeing from burning cars and cradling injured relatives. Dogs barked, alarms wailed and houses crumbled. But Darkness gasped and she looked to the street, seeing it absent of shadow and the cloying presence of the night.

Light slid along her skin like oil and wrapped her arms around the shorter girl, hands finding homes in the indent of her hips and pulling her body close. She drank in the awe that shivered from the dark flesh, vibrating from her bones and crying out from their bond.

"Is that...?"

Brittany smiled. "Yeah."

(Years from now, they will be known as gods. Night and Day will bend to their call, so bright along their celestial skin it blinds the unworthy and hand in hand they will walk the streets, Brittany healing what Santana destroys. She will wield Harmony just as the other holds Chaos, breaking the world just to create it stronger from the rubble. Her power will be known for miracles, ridding the world of disease and heartache while Santana creates new pain to decimate those who cause them harm. People will throw themselves at their feet, renouncing their god for a power they cannot understand. The world will watch in horror as Santana's hand stops an atomic bomb from hitting her lover, her being, her _everything_, hovering momentarily in the air to defy what they've come to know before flinging it back with an infuriated roar to whence it came.

None will see the passionate kiss in thanks nor the quiet moments in the dark of a room where they reach so far inside that they travel back through countless threads of Time, reshaping and rebuilding the sole Reality they have left. All will try and fail to comprehend the love that shatters all boundaries, impressing its Truth until they will be remembered when descendants have turned to dust.)

But nothing is set in stone, and the Creators smiled to themselves with quiet approval at something they had never seen with their sightless eyes as Quinn glanced up from the bank of the lake, unharmed in the Chaos but forever changed.

And for the first time, Santana raised her face to the sun.


End file.
